Jobs at UNDP South Africa - Economics Advisor Job Vacancy in Johannesburg



  Job Title: Economics Advisor

Johannesburg

Closing Date: Friday, 13 July 2012

ECONOMICS ADVISOR
Location : Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA Application Deadline : 13-Jul-12 Additional Category Management Type of Contract : FTA International Post Level : P-5 Languages Required :

English Starting Date :

(date when the selected candidate is expected to start) 01-Aug-2012

Duration of Initial Contract : 1 Year

Background

Encompassing 46 countries, RBA is UNDP’s largest Regional Bureau. To help the Africa region overcome its development challenges, UNDP’s strategic goal in Africa is to develop the region’s capacity to promote pro-poor growth and accountability (CD-PGA), as a strategy for accelerating its progress towards achieving the MDGs and other development goals. Achieving this strategic goal requires a refocusing of UNDP’s resources in the region on capacity development, and strengthening its own internal capacity in critical substantive and managerial areas. To this end, RBA established a Strategic Advisory Unit to enhance the positioning of UNDP/RBA on substantive policy developments and to inform and support upstream policy advice in country offices to advance national efforts to promote human development and progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.

The SAU provides cross-disciplinary analytical and advisory support to the implementation of UNDP/RBA’s Capacity Development for Pro-poor Growth and Accountability (CD-PGA) strategy, in line with corporate priorities related to the MDGs, climate change, governance, gender equality and women’s empowerment and the Africa wide poverty eradication efforts. The SAU provides substantive inputs and quality assurance to the Bureau’s economists, governance, gender and climate change programmes. It develops knowledge products and maintain knowledge networks and strengthen partnerships with pan African and regional institutions and with other relevant policy and research centers outside the region. It supports and complements the policy and analytical work of other bureaus and practices within UNDP – in particular the Bureau for Development Policy (BDP) and the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR) – to help ensure African priorities and perspectives are reflected in relevant substantive areas.

The Economics Advisor monitors economic policy developments and advises RBA and other member of the UNDP team and its partners on policy issues. He/she contributes to UNDP’s policy dialogue with Government and donors within NEPAD. The Economics Advisor works in close collaboration with UNDP HQs staff, particularly the Policy Advisors at the corporate level and in the ASROs, and Government officials, multi-lateral and bi-lateral donors and civil society ensuring high level of UNDP programmes policy impact

Duties and Responsibilities
Functions / Key Results Expected

Summary of key functions:

Advice to UNDP management on economic and development issues
Advice to Government counterparts and facilitation of knowledge building on economic and development issues
Building of strategic partnerships and implementation of resource mobilization strategy
Advocacy and promotion of UNDP’s mandate and mission

1. Provides advice and support to UNDP management, programmes and projects focusing on achievement of the following results:

Compilation, analysis and interpretation of economic and statistical data, thorough research of the economic and development issues in the country and production of relevant reports aimed at promoting equitable economic growth and human development.
Provision of top quality analysis and substantive inputs to CCA, UNDAF, CPD, CPAP and other strategic documents.
Provision of authoritative advice on possible areas for UNDP support and adjustment of on-going programmes to ensure that UNDP programmes are in line with national policies and priorities.
Selection of strategic research topics, surveys and/or case studies.
Production and launch of economic reports, including National Human Development Reports. Formulation and facilitation of UNDP inputs and CO support to national poverty reduction efforts in the context of PRSP and poverty monitoring, including of the MDGs.
Direct participation in sub-regional, regional and inter-agency initiatives related to development issues.

2. Provides advice to Government counterparts and facilitation of knowledge building focusing on achievement of the following results:

Facilitation of policy dialogue on economic issues with the Government, donors, civil society, private sector; contributions o development of policies as relevant.
Provision of policy options, particularly from pro-poor perspectives, on macroeconomic and development issues to governments and other development actors.
Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice through identification of best practices and lessons learned.
Assessment of the country’s macro-economic policies and their impact on poverty reduction , growth, equity, etc.
Training and capacity building support for UNDP staff and Government officials on economic issues.

3. Participates in the building of strategic partnerships and implementation of the resource mobilization strategy focusing on achievement of the following results:

Development of partnerships with the UN Agencies, IFI’s, government institutions, bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors, private sector, civil society areas based on strategic goals of UNDP, country needs and donors’ priorities.
Research and analysis of information on donors, preparation of substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation.
Production of periodic updates and briefs on country development situation to be used by stakeholders, CO and HQ.
Undertaking of selected studies/research on emerging development concerns that feed into government/development partners processes.

4. Advocacy and promotion of awareness of UNDP’s mandate and mission focusing on achievement of the following results:

Policy advocacy for the Millennium Development Goals, Human Development and pro-poor and equitable economic growth by participating in relevant forums, conferences and trainings.
Production of high quality research papers for UNDP presentation at international workshops and conferences.
Support to monitoring progress and formulation of strategies towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
Management of events and publications on economic issues, including annual Global Human Development Reports launches in the country, advocacy of the main Reports findings among relevant Governmental agencies, civil society organizations and donors.

Competencies
Functional Competencies:

Advocacy/Advancing a Policy-Oriented Agenda: analysis and creation of messages and strategies

Contributes to the elaboration of advocacy strategies by identifying and prioritizing audiences and communication means.
Performs analysis of political situations and scenarios, and contributes to the formulation of institutional responses.

Building Strategic Partnerships: Identifying and building partnerships

Effectively networks with partners seizing opportunities to build strategic alliances relevant to UNDP’s mandate and strategic agenda;
Sensitizes UN Partners, donors and other international organizations to the UNDP’s strategic agenda, identifying areas for joint efforts;
Develops positive ties with civil society to build/strengthen UNDP’s mandate;
Identifies needs and interventions for capacity building of counterparts, clients and potential partners;
Displays initiative, sets challenging outputs for him/herself and willingly accepts new work assignments

Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing: Developing tools and mechanisms

Makes the case for innovative ideas documenting successes and building them into the design of new approaches;
Identifies new approaches and strategies that promote the use of tools and mechanisms;
Develops and/or participates in the development of tools and mechanisms, including identifying new approaches to promote individual and organizational learning and knowledge sharing using formal and informal methodologies.

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise: In-depth knowledge of the subject-matter

Understands more advanced aspects of primary area of specialization as well as the fundamental concepts of related disciplines;
Serves as internal consultant in the area of expertise and shares knowledge with staff;
Continues to seeks new and improved methods and systems for accomplishing the work of the unit;
Keeps abreast of new developments in area of professional discipline and job knowledge and seeks to develop him/herself professionally;
Demonstrates comprehensive knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments;
Demonstrates comprehensive understanding and knowledge of the current guidelines and project management tools and utilizes these regularly in work assignments.

Creating Visibility for UNDP/Supporting UNDP’s Capacity to Advocate: Developing promotional projects and organizational messages

Identifies and develops activities to enhance the visibility of UNDP;
Develops promotional activities based on monitoring/evaluation information identifying areas requiring higher visibility
Reviews documents and materials intended for use within and outside the organization in order to ensure consistency and validity of messages;
Creates and cultivates networks of partners to promote UNDP’s image;
Conducts assessments of activities to improve impact and effectiveness.

Global Leadership and Advocacy for UNDP’s Goals: Analysis and creation of messages and strategies

Performed analysis of political situations and scenarios, and contributes to the formulation of institutional responses;
Uses the opportunity to bring forward and disseminate materials for global advocacy work and adapts it for use at country level.

Conceptual Innovation in the Provision of Technical Expertise: Developing innovative and creative approaches

Leverages different experiences and expertise of team members to achieve better and more innovative outcomes;
Leverages multi disciplinary, institutional knowledge and experience of other countries and regions to promote UNDP’s development agenda;
Participates in dialogue about conceptual innovation at the country and regional levels.

Client Orientation: Contributing to positive outcomes for the client

Anticipates client needs;
Works towards creating an enabling environment for a smooth relationship between the clients and service provider;
Demonstrates understanding of client’s perspective.

Core Competencies:

Promoting ethics and integrity, creating organizational precedents;
Building support and political acumen;
Building staff competence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation;
Building and promoting effective teams;
Creating and promoting enabling environment for open communication;
Creating an emotionally intelligent organization;
Leveraging conflict in the interests of UNDP & setting standards;
Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning. Promoting learning and knowledge management /sharing is the responsibility of each staff member;
Fair and transparent decision making; calculated risk-taking.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s Degree in Economics.

Experience:

10 years of relevant experience at the national or international level;
Extensive experience in research and policy-level analysis;
Some experience in design, monitoring and evaluation of development projects ;
Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems and advanced programmes for statistical analysis of data.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English;
Knowledge of French is an added advantage.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.


To Apply:

http://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=31076

Deadline: 13th July 2012

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